Is internet Rage Against Labour and Conservative Machines boosting Lib Dem standing and will it give UK riders a well hung parliament?

Remember when RAGE AGAINST THE MACHINE stuffed Simon Cowell’s super slick X Factor plan to be No. 1  last Christmas? See this groovy vid for a timely reminder and please crank the sound up to full chat. I’m reminded of this as Labour and the Conservatives seem increasingly focused or even desperate to direct their party machine’s power at persuading us all that a well hung parliament would be a very bad thing.  But would it?

To be honest I’m just not sure what would be best for UK riders. But right now it looks increasingly likely that none of the three main parties will gain an overall majority number of MPs. After all, the maths is simple. Labour will lose it’s majority with the loss of just twenty seats, while the Tories would have to gain one hundred to achieve and overall majority. And, although some say it is impossible for UK voters to positively choose a hung parliament, the BBC is beginning to question that theory and ask:

Can the web organise a hung Parliament?

Frankly I rather doubt it, but there are some in our midst like the Hang ‘em crew who want to give it dam good try!

Apparently their aim is “not ideological” – it’s all about voting for people with “integrity and character” including Tories and Labour candidates with a “record of rebellion.”

All I can say at the moment is that if the Conservatives get to choose who will run transport in Britain, I am reliably informed that the current team of Theresa Villiers and Robert Goodwill have been given a “very big hint” that there will be “no major changes” coming soon. And I was also assured by the Lib Dem’s parliamentary candidate for Vauxhall, Caroline Pidgeon, at the London Riders Are Voters event – that she would be delighted to set up a post election meeting with their Shadow Transport minister Norman Baker to discuss how their policies might be better focused on riders issues.

So, there yo go for now and let’s see what riders reckon about the thorny issue of whether we will get a well hung parliament and whether we will be better or worse off if we do…

TV debate for political leaders highlights what they think are ‘key’ issues but will riders be left in the gap between them? Answers in London on Monday?

I felt quite proud of myself last night for doing something that I don’t often do.

I watched a TV debate between the UK’s top political bananas without shouting at the telly once, or feeling close to being overwhelmed with a desire to chuck something hard and heavy at it. Normally, I avoid most televised ‘question and answer’ shows because that is generally what they are, a show. And in case you missed it, the ‘Leaders Debate’ show last night has already spawned more – and tens of thousands of Googlable pages of comment. And just in case you have been living up a tree for a while, it involved the UK’s mainstream party leaders; Gordon Brown, Nick Clegg and David Cameron.

But the problem for me is that I’m more interested in what politicians actually do or don’t do, than what they say in strings of highly spun and painstakingly rehearsed words. Like most people I have some interest in such things as health, education and how much tax I’m going to have to pay and for what, but my primary focus is on what our politicians will do to really improve the way we can get ourselves and the stuff we need to and from where it needs to be.

Speaking generally this is called transport but the element I’m most concerned about is what happens to the one and a half million or so riders of motorbikes, scooters and mopeds in Britain.

Sadly for me, none of our great political leaders said anything noteworthy about transport generally or riders specifically – unless you count a bit  of clap-trap about new High Speed Rail links that there is no money to pay for and the tree-huggers would stop being built even if there was.

The good news for me is that beyond the glitz and glare of TV studios our politicians who want to be part of the next parliament are having to get out and about and talk about the things that matter to their potential voters and this include riders. Yes folks Riders Are Voters as the RAV campaign is trying to explain. And if you happen to be a rider voter there is still time to see what politicians will at least say they will do for you. Go to the RAV website or Facebook page for details of events near you. And if you happen to be in London on Monday the 19th you can come along to a real live question time at the Hein Gericke shop in Stockwell. This will have real live prospective parliamentary candidates and an appropriate panel of experts and riders issue people – including me… You have been warned!